New veterinary graduate Dani McVety,
'09, no stranger to the spotlight, drew
national attention this year when she spoke at
the North American Veterinary Conference's
"Elephant in the Room" student debt symposium
in January and later appeared on the cover of
DVM Magazine in that role.
For her senior research project, McVety, a
former professional dancer and an entrepreneur
from an early age, had conducted a survey
testing the knowledge of business concepts
among veterinary students nationwide.
The results drew the attention of Dr.
Jim Wilson, a nationally prominent
veterinarian, attorney and author who
teaches veterinary law, ethics, business
management and career development at
most of the nation's veterinary schools.
Wilson then asked McVety to speak at
NAVC.
"I only spoke for about six minutes, but
it was exhilarating," McVety said. "The
room was packed with students and industry

Dr. Dani McVety holds a dog named Hoover while
performing clinical rotations in UF's Small Animal
Hospital this past year.

leaders. I sat next to the CEO of the National
Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues and
many other role models I've always wanted to
meet."
After her presentation, the editor-in-chief
of DVM Magazine approached McVety and
asked to do a story relating her work to an
editorial series focused on the current
state of the economy and how new
Veterinarians are being impacted.
_T-Iat led to another article in
I r udent-oriented publication,
I, ,ur DVM Career.
For her research paper,
McVety sent a survey of 10
simple questions to as many
veterinary schools in the
U .S. as she could. She
received data from
26 veterinary schools
qnd mnre than Qnn

i1 :] ,,l .. r.. .] ,,

rI.,I II I tr. .] r.. rI .l

,-,r,,-,, -I ,, I::, 1- 1 ,. ,

It was the
only job
I could
imagine
wanting to
get up in the
morning for."
- Dani McVety
))

Slorid

Florida Veterinarian is; pu0Llis1hed Lv
the University of Flonda College of
Vetennary Medicine lor alumni and
friends. Suggestions and conlmenlts
are welcomeI and SllOld be enlailed to:

couple of months ago, the UF College of
e Veterinary Medicine was at the center of
a national news when 21 polo ponies died
suddenly in Wellington, Fla. Fifteen of these horses
were brought to UF for necropsy and testing. Our
team of board certified pathologists, the only ones in
the state of Florida, performed necropsies and obtained
samples for additional testing on all of the horses.
The analytical capabilities of our faculty and their
various laboratories were engaged in solving the puzzle
of what could have caused this catastrophe. The Racing
Dean Glen Hoffsis Lab, Clinical Pathology Lab, and Toxicology Lab ulti-
mately diagnosed the case, determining that the deaths
were caused by an overdose of selenium. The case was complex, and had major ramifications on
several levels. The information determined at the CVM was critical for the State Veterinarian and
other regulatory agencies in managing the situation.

I was very proud of our many faculty members who contributed their expertise in this case
even though the extra effort, much of it after hours and through a weekend, is beyond their
primary roles. Interestingly, such events happen on an almost weekly basis and our CVM faculty
always respond in similar fashion to solve problems for the benefit of the state and its citizens.
Most people think the CVM is here only to teach veterinary students, but in fact the college
has multiple missions including the generation of new knowledge, providing diagnostic services,
providing advanced clinical services for animal patients, and educating veterinarians and animal
owners across Florida and beyond.

As the state's only veterinary college, we have extensive responsibilities and we take them
seriously. Florida is well served by its investment and I hope we continue with our mutual
support.
I hope you are having a wonderful summer.

Glen Hoffsis
Dean

New vaccine should aid in prevention of canine flu

By Sarah Carey

Dr. Cynda Crawford
and her colleagues
concluded in 2004 that
the equine influenza
virus had jumped the
species barrier from
horses into dogs. The
virus subsequently
became known as canine
influenza virus.

The UF discovery that equine influenza
virus had jumped species into racing
greyhounds, causing several dogs to die at the
track in 2004, was a major scientific finding
worthy of international news. Within a year,
however, the new pathogen -- now known as
canine influenza virus -- exploded into the
pet dog population, causing mass hysteria at
kennels and shelters across the country, and
among veterinarians who had no idea how
to protect pets against the deadly respiratory
illness.
Five years later, veterinarians and the pet
owning public now have an important tool
for fighting canine flu in the form of a vaccine
approved conditionally in June by the USDA
and being marketed by Intervet/Schering
Plough Animal Health Corporation. During
the conditional license period, Intervet/
Schering Plough will continue to submit data
in support of the product's performance while
governmental regulators decide whether to
issue a regular license.
"The vaccine has actually been sent by
Intervet/Schering Plough to its distributors,

This vaccine represents
the culmination ofsix years of
investigations led by UF... $

Dr. Cynda Crawford

so it is now available for vets to order for
their clients," said Dr. Cynda Crawford, the
Maddie's Fund clinical assistant professor of
shelter medicine at UF and a co-discoverer
of the canine influenza virus. "The vaccine is
intended as an aid in the control of disease
associated with CIV infection."
Crawford served as a consultant in the
vaccine's development, along with Dr. Ed
Dubovi, a professor of' hi, .1 ;, at Cornell
University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
"Although the vaccine may not prevent
infection, efficacy trials have shown that

vaccination significantly reduces the severity
of damage to the lungs," Crawford said. "In
addition, the vaccine reduces the amount of
virus shed and shortens the shedding interval.
This means that vaccinated dogs that become
infected have less illness and are not as
contagious to other dogs."
Since canine influenza was first identified,
the virus has continued to spread and has now
been detected in dogs in 30 states and in the
District of Columbia, Crawford said.
Most dogs have no immunity to the virus,
which is highly contagious and can quickly
spread through communal groups of animals,
such as shelters, adoption groups, pet stores,
boarding and training facilities and veterinary
clinics.
"This vaccine represents the culmination
of six years of investigations led by UF which
underpinned the development of a vaccine
to better protect the health and welfare of
dogs, particularly those housed in groups,"
Crawford said.

FLORIDA VETERINARIAN 3

Commitment to beliefs defines alumna's professional

and personal choices
By Sarah Carey

G wendy Reyes-Illg, '08, has never taken the easy
road in her efforts to make a difference in the
veterinary profession.
"When I was applying to veterinary schools,
everyone told me to play down my beliefs because
no one wanted to admit a radical into vet school,"
said Reyes-Illg, who now works at a 10-doctor small
animal hospital in Pittsburgh. "But in the end, I think
it was my passion for advancing the moral status of
animals in a practical way that allowed me to give
something back to the UF CVM."
Reyes-Illg began reading books about animal ethics
at age 12. She became a vegan the same year. In
college, she took a course on animal welfare through
UF's philosophy department.
"Ethics and philosophy tend to become very
complicated very quickly, especially in the details," she
said. "Certainly there are differences between humans
and other animals, and between individual animals.
But so much of the time, animals are harmed or killed
just because it is convenient or expedient and no one
questions what is going on."
An interest in animal ethics is what motivated
Reyes-Illg to become involved with primates.
She became attracted to the idea of returning
captured chimpanzees to the wild to live freely and
independently.
"In pursuit of that dream, I began volunteering
with apes almost nine years ago and keeping tabs on
the chimpanzee rehabilitation and release projects
underway in Africa," she said.
The practice where Reyes-Illg now works allows
her two months of unpaid leave per year to volunteer
work Africa.
"Once I have my loans paid off and have saved some
money, I hope to have enough primate experience
that I can spend most of the year in Africa being a
sanctuary veterinarian doing rehabilitation/release
work," she said.
Dr. Gwendy
The day after graduating from the UFCVM, Reyes- was a patie
Illg headed to Cameroon in Western Africa, to the Center and
Limbe Wildlife Centre, a conservation organization received ter
tested for tu
and primate sanctuary. During her stay, an infant housed with
chimpanzee, a baby mona monkey and a putty-nosed
guenon, all confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade,
joined hundreds of other rescued apes and monkeys at
the wildlife center.
"As you can imagine, it was never quiet," she wrote, adding that
many of the center's staff members asked her for help in finding the
resources to pursue their educations.

Reyes-lllg '08, wants to be clear that the monkey shown with her in the above photo
nt, not a pet. This baby monkey, named Takwah, was a patient at the Limbe Wildlife
had been turned over to the sanctuary for care after being orphaned. The animal
nporary foster care while undergoing a quarantine period, during which she was
iberculosis and other diseases. After receiving a clean bill of health, Takwah was
Stwo other monkeys of the same species.

"At first, I didn't understand why this was so difficult," she said.
"But soon I understood the obstacles: Most staffers were starting with
only a minimal level of formal education. Night school begins at 4 p.m.
when shifts don't end until 6 p.m. Wages are too low to permit part-
time work and student loans don't exist here."

4 FLORIDA VETERINARIAN

Back in the U.S., Reyes-Illg is spearheading an effort to help bring
classes and teachers to the LWC during after-work hours, thereby
allowing staff members to further their education. Last month, the
LWC Staff Education Program raised enough money to fund classes
for the first six months.
"Access to education will not only help LWC improve its own
conservation programs and animal care quality, it will also build
the capacity of the Cameroonian environmental movement,"
Reyes-Illg said.
In preparation for her trip back to Limbe Wildlife Centre in
October, Reyes-Illg is seeking donations of medications and veterinary
supplies, or funds to purchase them. (Anyone who would like to help
may contact her at GwendyDVM@gmail.com.)
When she was a freshman in veterinary school at UF, Reyes-Illg
approached college administration about obtaining the cadaver of
a horse euthanized for medical reasons to avoid dissecting a cadaver
from a healthy animal purchased and euthanized for teaching equine
anatomy, currently the standard procedure used at veterinary schools
worldwide.
"I had to promise to withdraw from vet school for a year if I was
unable to find a cadaver in time," Reyes-Illg said. "When I found two
suitable cadavers in one month, I decided this could easily be the way
cadavers are obtained for anatomy class."
For the next three years, with funding through the Geraldine R.
Dodge Foundation's Frontiers for Veterinary Medicine Fellowship,
Reyes-Illg worked closely with Dr. Rick Johnson, professor of
anatomy, and his technician, Mike Sapper, to develop the Willed Body
Program for large animals as part of her senior research project.
The idea behind the program is that it provides a means for people
who own a terminally ill small horse, pony, or cow to donate the
animal, after its death, to the CVM teaching program. This creates a
learning alternative for veterinary students who are ethically opposed
to performing dissections on cadavers of animals that have been
euthanized expressly for the purpose of teaching anatomy.
"Gwendy did an outstanding job in the development and
promotion of the Willed Body Program," Johnson said. "Her passion,
creativity and willingness to reach consensus on this project has
resulted in our having the first willed body program for large animals
and generated a good deal of interest among other veterinary schools."
Another initiative Reyes-Illg spearheaded while a UF veterinary
student was a program known as HAARTS Helping Alachua's
Animals Requiring Treatment and Surgery. Through this program,
a large number of animals from shelters or rescue organizations
have been able to receive life-saving medical care. The HAARTS
program has been funded by the Humane Society Veterinary Medical
Association and Dr. Paula Kislak, a UF veterinary college alumna.
"Prior to starting veterinary school, I worked as a veterinary
technician and had been very upset whenever we euthanized an animal
with a treatable surgical condition simply because the client couldn't
afford the necessary surgery," Reyes-Illg said. "So the idea came to

me, what if students, under the careful instruction of residents and
experienced surgeons, provided necessary surgeries to those animals."
Reyes-Illg began talking to UF faculty members, including Dr. Gary
Ellison and Dr. Natalie Isaza, about how such a program might work,
and made the procurement of outside funding a priority due to budget
constraints.
"I did a lot of listening and tried to balance everyone's concerns,"
Reyes-Illg said. "Just as everything came together, it was time for me to
graduate and I was extremely lucky to find other students to turn the
idea of HAARTS into a reality."
Dr. Tom Vickroy, interim associate dean for students and
instruction, said that in his interactions with Reyes-Illg, she always
proved to be a positive person who appreciated and accepted that
others might not share her opinions or positions.
"She has always shown a willingness to work within a system to
change or develop alternatives to practices with which she disagrees,"
he said.
Reyes-Illg said her veterinary training at UF helped ground her
professionally.
"Having vague, lofty ideas about saving animals is quite different
from knowing what to do when you're faced with an animal in need,"
she said. Where to find critical information, how to put the pieces of
a medical case together, how to best communicate and negotiate with
people involved in a situation all of those questions are among
those Reyes-Illg said she wouldn't know how to answer without the
knowledge and experience she gained in veterinary school and is
building in veterinary practice.
"I met so many brilliant people at the UFCVM and was inspired by
the achievements and excellence of those teaching and training there,"
she said.

FLORIDA VETERINARIAN 5

New graduates join ranks of alumni performing

military service
By Sarah Carey

W while many recent
graduates of the UF
College of Veterinary Medicine
are progressing in their military
careers, a new crop of alumni
with military ties are planning
their futures. For some, the
military will remain an active
focus; for others, new degrees in
veterinary medicine will provide
the tools for exploring other
options.
In his remarks to the
graduating seniors during
commencement exercises May
23, Dr. Tom Vickroy, associate
dean for students and instruction,
noted that several members of
the class of 2009 had a history
of working with the military.
Specifically, Vickroy commented
about these individuals:
Dr. Gregory Long, '09, served
eight years in the U.S. Marine
Corps, including service in
Operation Enduring Freedom
in 2003. He currently is in the
U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and
has taken a job as an associate at
Newberry Animal Hospital.
Dr. Nichole Luring, '09,
served in the U.S. Navy for nine
years, including seven months in
Operation Enduring Freedom in
2002. Loring is a 1999 graduate
of the U.S. Naval Academy. She
left the Navy in 2004 to attend Dr. Jay Coisr
the UF College of Veterinary
Medicine. Now she plans to
move to Pensacola to take a position as an
emergency associate veterinarian.
Dr. Jill Gregorieff, '09, served in the U.S.
Navy for 11 years and was a helicopter pilot.
A 1991 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy
with a degree in aerospace engineering, she
now plans to become an officer on active duty
in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps.
Other members of the class of'09 who are
embarking upon active military service in the
U.S. Army Veterinary Corps are Drs. Jessica
Buchta,Veronica Gomez, Romina Hennig and
Regino Rodriguez. Meanwhile, here are just a

6 FLORIDA VETERINARIAN

nan will soon return to UF to perform a surgery residence

few CVM graduates who are or have recently
been actively involved in the military.
Dr. Greg Reppas, '08, is a 1993 graduate
of UF's NAVY ROTC program. Reppas,
who received his undergraduate degree in
engineering, spent 10 years in the Navy as a
cryptological officer working with classified
communications intelligence.
He was in charge of more than 150 people
and several airborne missions but no animals.
After doing some volunteer veterinary
work, Reppas decided to pursue a career in
veterinary medicine. He attended the UF
CVM on an Army scholarship and is now

a Major in the U.S. Army
Veterinary Corps.
Reppas is currently training
for deployment to Iraq this
fall, where he plans to perform
care on military working dogs,
: provide public health and
food inspection services, as
well as limited civilian affairs
missions to promote national
agricultural development.
Four 2007 CVM graduates
were commissioned as Captains
in the U.S. Army Veterinary
Corps, including Drs. Erin
Brown, Anthony May, Jean
Rubanick and Elizabeth
Williams.
Dr. Christian Hofer, '05,
and Dr. Angela Kuntz, '05,
both are Captains in the U.S.
Army Veterinary Corps. Prior
to veterinary school, Hofer
served for more than 11 years
in the U.S. Navy, where he
worked as a nuclear propulsion
plant machinist mate and as
an engineering laboratory
technician. He participated in
tours supporting Operations
E Desert Storm and Desert
Shield in the Persian Gulf.
After graduating from
Veterinary school, he entered
the U.S. Army Veterinary
Corps and was deployed twice
y. to Afghanistan in Operation
Enduring Freedom. He also
worked with Special Forces
"A" teams in remote areas of the country
supporting civil affairs missions by providing
veterinary care to local livestock owners
and by working with local veterinarians to
improve the health of livestock in Afghanistan.
He later transferred to the Joint Special
Operations Medical Training Center in Fort
Bragg, N.C., where he currently teaches
Special Forces Medical Sergeants the basics of
livestock and horse care, WMD emergency
procedures and various public health topics.
Hofer plans to return to school in 2011
to complete a laboratory animal medicine
residency and a Ph.D. in epidemiology.

Hofer is attached with the Special Forces,
and initially served tours in Afghanistan. His
current job involves training Special Forces
Medics how to do their job.
Dr. Jay Coisman, '04, is an Army
Captain. Coisman initially performed a
military working dog internship at the Dog
Center in San Antonio and later performed
tours in Valdosta, Ga., and in Hawaii. He
currently is on the USNS Byrd performing
a joint military, NGO and partner nation
humanitarian mission in Samoa, Tonga,
Kirbati, Solomon Islands and Marshall
Islands.
Coisman was recently selected to perform
a surgery residency at UE He begins
some studies online this fall and will be in
Gainesville in the fall of 2010.
While he was a UF veterinary student,
Coisman was actively involved in
TeamVetMed. He plans to begin his residency
studies later this summer.
Dr. Jon Willey, '04, came through
UFCVM on an Army scholarship, and served
four years on active duty in the U.S. Army
Veterinary Corps. In addition to spending
two years as the Vet for the Marine Corps
base at Twentynine Palms, Calif., he was
the veterinarian for the 3rd Special Forces
Group, where he made a dozen airborne
jumps (non-combat) and was twice deployed
to Afghanistan. He is now a civilian in small
animal practice in Oviedo, Fla.
Dr. Dana McDaniel, '96, is a Lieutenant
Colonel in the Army who spent 11 years
on active duty and has served in the Army
Reserves for the past two years. She most
recently served in Afghanistan serving in
Operation Enduring Freedom as a public
health veterinarian in the Cooperative Medical
Assistance Team, which consists of Army
and Navy medical and veterinary personnel
that provide training to Afghan medical and
veterinary providers.
McDaniel began her military career in 1987
in the U.S. Air Force Reserves as a medical
evacuation service specialist. She spent nine
years in the reserves and was deployed in
Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
After her graduation from veterinary school,
she entered the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps
and in subsequent years was deployed in

Egypt as the Officer-in-Charge of Veterinary
Services in Egypt and Israel, and as Brigade
Veterinarian for the 30th Medical Brigade,
Heidelberg, Germany. In that capacity she
served on transition teams to Bosnia and
Kosovo to evaluate Reserve Component units
as they took on missions there.
McDaniel also received her master's
degree in public health from John's Hopkins
University in May 2003. She plans to
temporarily move back to Gainesville in
August to study for her American College
of Veterinary Preventive Medicine board
examinations and to command a Reserve unit
between deployments.
Dr. Noreen A. Murphy, '94, is a Lieutenant
Colonel in the Army. She left Fort Sam
Houston in Texas, where she was the assistant
to the chief of the U.S. Army Veterinary
Corps, in 2007 to move to Italy, where
she commanded the Southern Europe District
Veterinary Command.
This summer she is newly stationed in
Norfolk, Va., where she is the commander of
Mid Atlantic District Veterinary Command.
Murphy holds a master's degree in public
health from the University of South Florida
and is board-certified in veterinary preventive
medicine. She also is a foreign animal disease
diagnostician.
Dr. Terry B. (Bushe) Besch, '88, is a
Colonel in the Army who is currently assigned
as the director for research support at the U.S.
Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious
Diseases. She oversees and coordinates several
activities for USAMRIID, including the
Veterinary Medicine
and Veterinary
Pathology divisions,
Biostatistics, and
Regulated Studies.
USAMRIID is the
military's premiere
biodefense laboratory
whose mission is to
conduct basic and
applied research on
biological threats
resulting in medical
solutions to protect the
war fighter.
Besch also holds Dr. Terry (Busche) Besc

Dr. Greg Reppas, '08, is
event in North Carolina.

board certifications in both laboratory
animal medicine and veterinary preventive
medicine. After graduating from veterinary
school, she served as a veterinary preventive
medicine officer at Fort Knox, Ky. and in the
Philippines before completing a residency
in laboratory animal medicine at the U.S.
Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious
Diseases in 1996. She then served as director
of veterinary medicine and Secretary to the
General Staff at the Army's Center for Health
Promotion and Preventive Medicine from
1996-1999.
Besch returned to USAMRIID in 1999 as
deputy director of the Veterinary Medicine
Division. In 2002, she was assigned as deputy
continued on page 8

:h, '88 is shown near a chopper in Iraq in 2004.

FLORIDA VETERINARIAN 7

director of the Animal Care and Use Review
Office, U.S. Army Medical Research and
Materiel Command, concurrently serving
as the veterinary consultant to the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency and chair
of the Armed Services Biomedical Research
Committee's Joint Technical Working Group
on Use of Animals in the Department of
Defense.
As a Lieutenant Colonel, Besch commanded
the 248th Medical Detachment (Veterinary
Services) in support of Operation Iraqi
Freedom from January 2004 to January 2005.
Her unit provided veterinary public health
and food inspection services as well as military
working dog care for the entire Iraqi area of
operations.
After returning from Iraq, Besch was
promoted to full Colonel and served as
director of grants management for the Army's
Congressionally-Directed Medical Research
Program, where she had technical and
administrative oversight of more than 4,100
medical research grants and contracts, totaling
more than $2.2 billion. She next served
as director of research plans and programs
for USAMRMC, where she supervised
programming, planning, and budgeting of
more than $1 billion in core and congressional
research programs to optimize Army medical
research for soldiers.
Dr. Scott Cornwell, '82, was the UF
CVM's first-ever recipient of its Alumni
Achievement Award in 2001, which he
received in part for his humanitarian work
in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a member of
the U.S. Army Reserves, Cornwell worked

to enhance
the region's
veterinary
infrastructure
in order to
improve
animal health,
public health
and food
safety as a
member of
the U.S. Army
Dr. Walt Burghardt, '80. Reserves.
Cornwell later re-entered active duty in the
Army on Sept. 11, 2001 and promoted to
the rank of Colonel soon afterward. During
the next three years, he worked on the staff at
the U.S. Central Command, headquartered
at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, where
he was responsible for providing guidance
and establishing health protection policy for
Central Command's area of responsibility,
which includes the Arabian Peninsula, Central
Asia and the Horn of Africa.
Cornwell is also board-certified in veterinary
preventive medicine. Following his retirement,
he averages two months a year working in
the University of Sarajevo veterinary faculty.
When in the U.S., he performs relief work
to help support his work overseas. Last fall,
he worked as a consultant to the Centers for
Disease Control and co-wrote an after-action
report on the Salmonella SaintPaul outbreak
that had occurred the previous summer.
He is scheduled to re-enter the Army in
August through a retiree recall program to
perform a six-month deployment to Kosovo.

Currently, Cornwell is working with Dr.
Colin Burrows and Dr. Gary Ellison of the UF
VMC on an outreach program sponsored by
the North American Veterinary Conference and
which will take place in Sarajevo in October.
Dr. Walt Burghardt, '80, a member of the
college's first graduating class, is a Colonel in
the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He also holds a
Ph.D. in Biopsychology from the University
of Maryland, College Park. A board-certified
veterinary behaviorist, Burghardt has more
than ten years experience in basic behavioral
research and more than 25 years experience in
both private veterinary practice and in referral
veterinary behavioral practice.
Since 1995, he has served as chief of
Behavioral Medicine and Military Working
Dog Studies for the Department of Defense's
Military Working Dog Veterinary Services at
Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Burghardt is
responsible for the behavioral care of more than
2,000 military working dogs around the world,
and for the implementation of a program of
applied research and development regarding
military working dogs.
Burghardt is also the Individual Mobilization
Augmentee to the Medical Director, Air Force
Reserve at the Pentagon. He advises the Air
Staff on issues regarding medical care for
Reservists as well as issues related to zoonoses,
epidemiology, preventive and occupational
medicine, and other aspects of public health,
and maintains a liaison between the Air Force
Medical Service, Security Forces, and the U.S.
Army Veterinary Corps on issues related to
military working dogs.

continued rom page

UF veterinary college names 2009 Distinguished

Award winners
By Sarah Carey

T wo small animal veterinary practice owners from
Gainesville and Miami, the chief veterinarian at
the Georgia Aquarium and two University of Florida
professors emeritus have been honored for their career
accomplishments by the UF College of Veterinary
Medicine.
Four awards were given through the 2009 Distinguished
Award program, which is sponsored by the college's alumni
council and offers recognition to deserving alumni, faculty
and others who have contributed meaningfully to UF and/
or to the veterinary profession.
Dale Kaplan-Stein, D.V.M., and Julio Ibanez,
D.V.M., were named as recipients of the college's Alumni
Achievement Award.
Kaplan-Stein, a member of the college's class of 1981,
owns Oaks Veterinary Hospital and Northwood Oaks
Veterinary Hospital, both in Gainesville. She also helped
establish Affiliated Pet Emergency Services in Gainesville
in 1988. For more than 20 years, Kaplan-Stein has been Distinguish
a tireless volunteer for Gainesville Pet Rescue, Alachua in rear, left
AchievemE
County Animal Services and No More Homeless Pets, Clauss, wh
among other groups. In 2007, she founded the St. Francis
House Pet Care Clinic, through which she has helped
provide care to nearly 500 pets of homeless and disadvantaged people
living in the Alachua County area.
Ibanez, a member of the college's charter class of 1980, is the owner
of Quail Roost Animal Hospital in Miami. He is a former president
of the college's alumni council and has been actively involved in the
Florida Veterinary Medical Association. He also has served on the
executive boards of the South Florida Veterinary Medical Association
and the South Florida Veterinary Foundation. He received the FVMA's
Gold Star Award in 2003 for outstanding contributions to veterinary
medicine.
The Outstanding Young Alumnus Award was given to Tonya
Clauss, D.V.M., a 2003 graduate of the UF veterinary college.
She now is chief veterinarian at the Georgia Aquarium, where she
works with one of the world's largest collections of aquatic animals.
Frequently featured in the national news whenever the Aquarium
treats high-profile cases, Clauss is an active spokeswoman for the
importance of aquatic animal health. In addition to her veterinary
degree, she holds two bachelor's degrees, as well as a master's degree in
environmental engineering and wetlands ecology from UF
Louis Archbald, D.V.M., Ph.D., a professor emeritus of animal
reproduction, has received the Distinguished Service Award. Archbald
joined UF's faculty as a professor and assistant dean for clinical
services/chief of staff of UF's Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in

1984. Until he retired in 2008, Archbald directed minority-oriented
initiatives, later known as multicultural and special programs, at the
college. He received the 2001 Iverson Bell Award from the American
Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges for his outstanding
contributions in promoting opportunities for minority students in
veterinary medical education. Even after retirement, Archbald has
continued to advise and mentor minority students in the D.V.M. and
graduate programs.
The college's Special Service Award went to Jerome Modell, M.D.,
a professor emeritus of anesthesiology at UF's College of Medicine
who also holds a courtesy appointment in the College of Veterinary
Medicine. For more than 20 years, Modell, always eager to draw
parallels between animal and human patients, routinely invited UF
veterinary faculty to lecture in his classes. In the 1980s, he helped
create a human patient simulator to teach medical students. This tool
was soon adapted to teach anesthesia to UF veterinary students.
The awards were presented May 23 at the Phillips Center for the
Performing Arts during college commencement exercises.

FLORIDA VETERINARIAN 9

continued from page 1

about and which would apply to veterinary
students all over the country," she said.
"Sometimes I feel incredibly uneducated in
very simple business/accounting things and I
knew my classmates were probably the same
way. I honestly didn't know it would be as bad
as it turned out to be, though."
For example, most students did not
know what an IRA stands for (Independent
Retirement Account.)
"We should be held to a higher standard
and should be aware of these basic concepts
that we will undoubtedly be faced with sooner
rather than later," McVety said.
McVety said her interest in business
concepts was at least in part inherited from
her parents, who moved to Florida from
Kansas City to start an electric manufacturing
representative company that later grew to be
one of the largest in the Southeast.
"They're true entrepreneurs and passed that
drive onto my brother and I," McVety said.
"When I was 14, I started a little company
with my miniature horses. It's how I paid for
my horse shows and even my first car, a 1996
F-250."
McVety added that her horse business
provided good experience in marketing,
customer service and branding, among other
things.
"By the time I was 16, I had almost every
weekend booked up," she said. "It was
incredible."
On top of her miniature horse business,
McVety juggled demands associated with
another hobby: dancing. McVety began
dancing at the age of 10 and by age 16 had
cultivated that interest to a level that found
her competing semi professionally in line
dancing, country-western, and eventually
swing and ballroom competition.
"I began dancing with my brother, then
when he wanted to quit I partnered up with
a competitor from Florida," McVety said. "I
missed around 20 days of school my junior
and senior years from competitions; I did the
miniature horse parties in the off-season and
weekends when we didn't compete."
The pace of the professional dance life was
exhausting, however, and McVety always knew
she didn't want to compete forever.
"It's a hard life, with lots of traveling and
the atmosphere is very tense," she said. "My
competitors, and they're all still great friends
of mine, have gone on to be in movies and
on TV shows. I think it's awesome and still

miss it at times, but *
I'm happy with my
decision."
Her life unfolded
to include an
undergraduate degree
in microbiology and
cell science from
UF and ultimately,
veterinary school,
which offered a career
that intrigued McVety -
more than any of her
childhood endeavors.
"It was the only job I
could imagine wanting
to get up in the
morning for," she said.
"Sometimes I imagined
going into the business
world or even to law
school, but I always Dr. Dani McVety was ho
UF CVM commenceme
went back to veterinary
medicine."
Dr. Andy Roark,
who graduated
from the UF CVM in 2008, knew McVety
through their mutual involvement in the
Florida chapter of the Veterinary Business
Management Association. Both Roark and
McVety were active in VBMA and each at one
time served as president of the group.
"While she was a veterinary student, Dani
arranged for nationally known business
speakers, such as Marion Brem, author of
'Women Make the Best Salesmen,' to visit
the CVM and to spend time with students,"
Roark said. "She also became a mother,
operated rental properties with her husband
near campus and owned, with her husband,
a string of ATM machines throughout
Gainesville and the surrounding area."
McVety met her husband, Chris, a recent
law school graduate, in 2003. The two shared
a fascination with business and got to know a
couple that owned ATMs.
"We loved the idea. Minimal time was
required and you make money when you're
sleeping," McVety said, adding that their first
account was Sachel's Pizza more than five years
ago. "They trusted Chris and put up with
us while we learned the ropes. From there
it snowballed; we now have more than 20
ATM machines in the Gainesville area that we
service in one form or another by filling, fixing
or processing. It has been a fantastic learning
experience for us."

oded by her husband, at right, Chris McVety during
nt exercises, held May 23.

She said being business partners with her
husband, whom she married in 2004, has
helped both of them identify their strengths
and weaknesses, an aspect that is key to the
success of any business.
"As any successful scientist or business
executive will tell you, there's no substitute for
going out and getting the experience on your
own," McVety said. "Personally, I think our
undergraduate curriculum needs to be more
reworked than our vet school curriculum.
We should have the option of choosing
accounting classes instead of liberal arts
classes, in my opinion."
McVety and her family including 1-year-
old son, Baron have now relocated to
Tampa, where she plans to perform emergency
work. McVety's goal is to amass even more
training while she spends time with her
family and considers the best way to build or
purchase a clinic of her own within the next
five years.
"It's going to be exciting either way,"
McVety said. "I want a clinic that's completely
focused around customer service. If someone
stops me one day and says, 'I had the most
wonderful experience at your clinic, they were
so good to me and my pet,' I will know I have
succeeded."

SAdvanced imaging allows
for more accurate diagnosis and
better therapeutic management.
The Steinbrenner's generous
gift allows us to image rapidly
and accurately, and all of
our patients benefit fom this
technology. $

Horsewoman Jessica Steinbrenner,
general manager of Kinsman Farm in
Ocala and daughter of New York Yankees'
owner George Steinbrenner, visited Gainesville
June 26 to celebrate the dedication of a new
CT imaging suite at the University of Florida
Veterinary Medical Center.
The Steinbrenner Family CT Imaging Suite
was named in honor of the Steinbrenners
in appreciation for a $400,000 gift -
subsequently matched through state funds for
a total of $800,000 that made construction
of the suite possible, providing UF with
one of the most powerful tools available for
veterinary diagnostics in the Southeastern
United States.
"The Steinbrenner family feels that the
University's veterinary faculty and program are
forward thinking and have the ability to
help large animals on a grand scale, all while

educating students in this field," Jessica
Steinbrenner said.
Housed in the college's large animal
hospital, the suite contains an 8-slice,
multidetector row Toshiba Acquilion CT unit
that allows for rapid imaging with exceptional
contrast and spatial resolution.
The UF VMC also has a 1.5 Tesla Toshiba
Titan MR unit, which allows veterinarians
to obtain highly detailed images in multiple
planes of bone and soft tissue in all species.
Foot, fetlock, suspensory ligaments, carpus,
hock and heads are regions capable of
being examined through MR in the horse.
Multidetector row CT is often used for rapid
evaluation of the skull and distal extremities.
It is especially helpful in characterizing
complex fractures using multiplanar
reformatting techniques and 3-dimensional
reconstructions. In small animals, both

imaging tools are routinely applied to
neurologic and orthopedic cases at the
VMC, with additional studies performed for
radiation planning and metastasis evaluations.
"Diagnostic imaging is an extremely
important part of patient care," said Matthew
Winter, D.V.M., assistant professor of
radiology at UF's VMC. "Advanced imaging
allows for more accurate diagnosis and better
therapeutic management. The Steinbrenner's
generous gift allows us to image rapidly and
accurately, and all of our patients benefit from
this technology."

26 Receptionist Training Day and Technician
Training Day will be held at the Paramount
Plaza in Gainesville. For more information,
contact Cathy Gentilman at (352) 392-1701,
ext. 234.

-3 Florida Association of Equine Practitioners
will hold its annual meeting in Marco Island.
For more information, go to www.faep.net.

S1 7 The University of Florida holds its traditional
Homecoming weekend.

25 Horse Farm 100 and Team VetMed bicycle
ride will depart at 8:30 a.m. from Loften
High School at 3000 E. University Ave. For
more information, contact Jo Ann Winn at
(352) 392-2213, ext. 5013 or e-mail winnj@
vetmed.ufl.edu

UF CVM Homecoming Celebration begins
four hours before game kick-off (UF vs.
Vanderbilt). The CVM Alumni Council's
fall meeting will also be held. Times for
both events are TBA. For more information,
contact Jo Ann Winn at (352) 392-2213,
ext. 5013 or e-mail winnj@vetmed.ufl.edu

All in the Family

Maggie Machen.'09. is shown with her father.
UF President Bernie Machen and family friend
Dr. Dale Kaplan-Stein. on May 23 just prior to
the college's commencement ceremony. Kaplan-
Stein also received the college's 2009 Alumni
Achievement award.